Baptist Joint Committee Capital Campaign Update Supporting Bodies BJC supporters rise to Baugh’s challenge Alliance of Baptists American Baptist Churches USA WASHINGTON — A Texas Baptist family’s in conjunction with the Cooperative Baptist Baptist General Association of Virginia spontaneous challenge to jump-start the Baptist Fellowship General Assembly and American Baptist General Conference Joint Committee’s capital campaign to build the Baptist Churches USA Biennial in Washington, Baptist General Convention of Texas Center for Religious Liberty on Capitol Hill net- D.C. There, Walker awarded the Baugh Family Baptist State Convention of North ted the organization near- the J.M. Dawson Religious Carolina ly $1.2 million dollars in Liberty Award. Cooperative Baptist Fellowship just a couple of weeks. Babs Baugh, then, in a sur- National Baptist Convention of America BJC Executive Director prise announcement, said her National Baptist Convention U.S.A. Inc. J. Brent Walker, executive family would match any new National Missionary Baptist director announced in a pledges or gifts made to the Convention July 24 e-mail to support- campaign between June 29 and North American Baptist Conference ers that a matching funds July 15. Progressive National Baptist challenge from the Baugh The center is part of a capital Convention Inc. family of San Antonio was Babs Baugh, with her husband, John campaign to help purchase, Religious Liberty Council wildly successful. In little Jarrett (right), is presented with the renovate and endow a home on Seventh Day Baptist General more than two weeks, J.M. Dawson Religious Liberty Award Capitol Hill to house the organi- Conference at the RLC luncheon in Washington. donors gave or pledged a zation’s permanent offices. The total of $688,372.73 in facility will also contain working response. An unnamed donor who gave a space for BJC partner organizations and visiting from the REPORTCapital $200,000 gift requested it not be matched, mean- scholars. ing the challenge raised $1,176,745.46. BJC leaders said they hope such a building J. Brent Walker “The Baugh family has always supported the will establish a highly visible presence for the Executive Director Baptist Joint Committee’s fight for religious lib- Baptist conception of religious freedom near the Jeff Huett erty. Now Babs has taken that support to a new Capitol. For most of its existence, the organiza- Editor level,” Walker said. tion has rented space in the Washington offices A half-million dollar gift and matching chal- of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Phallan Davis Associate Editor lenge has energized our capital campaign and “I am so moved by the incredible generosity put us closer to making the Center for Religious of Babs, the Baugh family and all of you who Liberty on Capitol Hill a reality.” took up the challenge,” Walker wrote. “The BJC Report from the Capital (ISSN-0346- All told, Walker said, the capital campaign is now closer to having the funds required to 0661) is published 10 times each year by total to date stands at slightly over $2.5 million build the center … a little over halfway there. the Baptist Joint Committee. For sub- scription information, please contact the of the $5 million goal. Thank you! With the continued support of Baptist Joint Committee. The matching funds challenge kicked off friends like you, we will surely [succeed.]” during the BJC’s annual luncheon, held June 29 — ABP and staff

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Phone: 202.544.4226 Fax: 202.544.2094 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.BJConline.org REPORTfrom theCapital At annual Religious Liberty Council luncheon, Balmer seeks ‘true Baptists’ WASHINGTON — One of the most prominent historians of American evangelicalism called on “true Baptists” June 29 to re-assert their prophetic role “as watchmen on the wall of separa- tion between church and state.” Randall Balmer, a history professor at Columbia University, told more than 550 supporters of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty that many of America’s Baptists, in recent decades, have “lost their way” (see pages 4-6 to read the full text of the address). “They have been seduced by leaders of the religious right into thinking that the way to advance the gospel in this country is to Newsletter of the abandon Baptist principles,” he said. Baptist Joint Committee Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, a Southern Baptist, was among the examples he listed. Moore’s controversial deci- Vol.62 No.7 sion to place a massive monument to the Protestant translation of the Ten Commandments at the center of the rotunda in the Alabama Supreme Court building ultimately cost him his job — but it also made him a folk hero among many of the nation’s conservative Christians. Randall Balmer delivered both July - August 2007 Moore argued that his oath to defend the United States and personal support for the BJC Alabama constitutions required him to “acknowledge God” as and the keynote address at the “the source of law” by creating the monument. 2007 RLC luncheon in “Why not post the Decalogue in public places? Because, quite Washington, D.C. simply, it trivializes the faith and makes the Ten Commandments into a fetish,” Balmer said. “What Roy Moore was peddling was idolatry, pure and simple — a conflation of the gospel with the American political order.” Balmer also assailed Baptists who have, he argued, so aligned themselves with political INSIDE: movements, they have diminished their ability to call the very officials they helped elect to moral account. Balmer argued that Baptists who oppose such entanglements between religion and govern- Reflections ...... 3 ment need to bring their wayward brethren back into the fold. “Every true Baptist understands that any attempt to baptize the faith with the imprimatur of Balmer address. . .4 the state … ultimately diminishes the integrity of the faith,” Balmer said. “I’m asking Baptists to reaffirm their heritage. I’m asking them to rededicate themselves to the importance of liberty of Guest View . . . . .7 conscience. Baptists were once a minority themselves, so they should know better than most the importance of protecting the rights of minorities, religious and otherwise.” The speech came during the 17th annual meeting of the BJC’s Religious Liberty Council, held Truett rally ...... 8 in conjunction with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly and the American Baptist Churches USA Biennial in Washington. The RLC is composed of individual supporters Hollman Report . . .10 of the BJC. The council re-elected its three officers to second one-year terms. RLC co-chairs are Hal Bass, a professor at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Ark., and a member of First Baptist News ...... 11 Church of Arkadelphia; and Cynthia Holmes, a St. Louis attorney and member of Overland Baptist Church in Overland, Mo. Henry Green, pastor of Heritage Baptist Church in Annapolis, Md., was re-elected as RLC secretary. After Balmer’s address, BJC supporter Babs Baugh, whose family was awarded the J.M. Dawson Religious Liberty Award at the luncheon, announced she would match every new dol- lar given to the campaign until July 15th (see page 12 for more about the challenge). —ABP and staff 2

Report from the Capital July-August 2007 freedom. those expendituresviolatereligious to congressionalaction,even when federal expendituresnotclearlytied er doesnotqualifyonetosueover majority saidthatstatusasataxpay- ability tohearreligionlawsuits,the just becausetheythinkitviolatestheFirst Amendment. to challengePresidentBush’s promotionofreligious charities June 25thatagroupoftaxpayers donothave thelegalstanding office anditsactionsviolatetheConstitution’s banongovern- Initiatives, headedbydirectorJayHein.Thesuitclaimedthe sued theWhiteHouseOfficeofFaith-BasedandCommunity these organizations.” been liftedbythecaringtouchandcompassionateheartsof “Most importantly, itisawinforthemanywhoselives have said inastatementtheWhiteHousereleasedafterdecision. with government atalllevels toserve theirneighbors,”Bush faith-based nonprofitsallacrossthecountrythathave partnered charities. to fundsocialservicesthroughchurchesandotherreligious with PresidentBush’s effortstoexpandthegovernment’s ability aration. ItalsomarksthefirsttimeSupremeCourthasdealt something ofasetbackforadvocates ofstrongchurch-statesep- From ReligionFoundation to challengefaith-basedfunding High Courtdeniestaxpayers’ability Supporters honor, memorialize otherswithgiftstoBJC John andKaren Wood In honorofRep. ChetEdwardsofTexas DavidCourtade A. Susan Borwick Dunn In honorofJamesM.andMarilyn Dr. Virginia BoydConnally Mark andSundiSpivey Kevin andBronwynGilliam Ann Virginia Davis In honorof James M.andMarilynDunn In memoryofCaitlanCreed Neal Knighton DavidCourtade A. In memoryofJohnF. Baugh Cathy andJohnBaskin In memoryofBobAlsheimer WASHINGTON The decisionin In a5-4rulingthatcouldhave implicationsforthecourts’ The Wisconsin-based FreedomFromReligionFoundation “This rulingisawinforthethousandsofcommunityand Hein v. Freedom — closelydividedSupremeCourtruled A is avictoryfortheWhiteHouseand Suzii Paynter and family In memoryofHullYoungblood Charlotte L.Beltz In memoryofSaraRutherford Ann Rutherford In memoryofJ.T. Rutherford Keith andJaclanelMcFarland In honorofJoyReynolds Keith andJaclanelMcFarland Neal Knighton DavidCourtade A. In memoryofHerbertH.Reynolds Frances PrinceCorlew In memoryofJackPrince the courtsaid,plaintiffsdidn’t meetthe from generalfundsthatCongressprovidedtoBush.Therefore, not specificallyauthorizetheexpenditures financing ofchurches. argued forcefullyagainstEuropean-stylestatesupportand ernment supportforreligion.ManyoftheConstitution’s framers able becauseofthespecialhistoryclause,whichbarsgov- cases. In alized standingdoctrineinregardtoEstablishmentClause terms, fromthegovernmental act. who suethegovernment mustprove aspecific“injury,” inlegal payer contributionsandexpendituresistooremote.Individuals Foundation andthreeofitsmembers,astaxpayers, hadtheright U.S. CircuitCourtof Appeals reversed thatruling,sayingthe tiffs didnothave standingtoarguethecaseincourt.But7th ment establishmentofreligion. clause. government expenditureallegedtoviolatetheestablishment requiring aclearnexusbetween congressionalactionandthe But inthelatestdecision,majoritynotedCongressdid In 1968,thecourtrecognizedaspecialexceptiontogener- federaldistrictcourtdismissedthesuit,sayingplain- A Flast v. Cohen , thecourtsaidexceptionwas reason- connection between individualtax- how itdisbursesfundsbecausethe standing tosuethegovernment over that taxpayers donotgenerallyhave moted thefaith-basedinitiative. used tofundconferencesthatpro- to challengeWhiteHouseallocations The SupremeCourthaslongheld

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Flast instead, theycame decision’s test — ABP REFLECTIONS A summer upon which to reflect & remember Looking back over the seven decades of the life of The annual luncheon of the BJC’s Religious Liberty the Baptist Joint Committee — the big picture — one Council kept the ball rolling. More than 550 RLC mem- sees an arc that traces a steady growth in resources and bers and BJC supporters were inspired by Randall effectiveness in the fight for religious liberty. However, Balmer’s rousing address. But they were astonished by J. Brent Walker when viewed year by year — a series what happened next. Having Executive Director of snapshots — that trajectory reveals the night before handed me a fits and starts, successes and failures, check for half-a-million dollars two steps forward and one step back for our capital campaign, Babs (and sometimes one forward and two Baugh arose to challenge the back), the happy marriage of now 14 crowd (and all BJC supporters) Baptist bodies and an acrimonious to do the same and agreed to divorce (Southern Baptist match every gift or pledge that Convention). was made to the capital cam- Every now and then we experi- paign by July 15. ence a major breakthrough, a quan- That part wasn’t planned. I tum leap forward, a coming together don’t know who of God’s providence with faithful was more surprised friends to spur breathtaking J. Brent Walker with Reps. Chet Edwards of — me or Babs’ hus- “We simply must seize the advances in the BJC’s ministry. The Texas (left) Bobby Scott of Virginia at the band, John Jarrett. Baptist Unity Rally for Religious Liberty. momentum of this moment past month — anchored by the Rod Reilly photo Babs later told me Cooperative Baptist Fellowship that the “matching to press forward to greater General Assembly and American offer just popped in heights.” Baptist Churches Biennial in Washington, D.C. — is one my head while I was listening to Randall of these rare, kairos moments. Balmer’s speech. I knew that either God It started off with a highly successful Baptist Unity or Papo [her father, John Baugh, who passed away in Rally for Religious Liberty on Capitol Hill. More than March] put it there. So I had better do it or I’d be in 200 champions of religious liberty gathered early in the serious trouble with one of them — and neither is a morning to hear religious, educational and political good choice.” leaders read portions of that famous sermon delivered Others must have felt the same way. By July 15, by George W. Truett from nearly the same spot in May $688,372.73 had been pledged or given by you — our 1920, eloquently expounding on the importance of reli- generous and faithful supporters. The bottom line — gious liberty and church-state separation and the role these pledges and gifts, the matching funds, the half- Baptists have played in advancing those principles over million-dollar-gift and nearly a million dollars previ- nearly four centuries. (I knew things were going well ously raised — add up to more than $2.5 million dol- when, although overcast, the rain waited until 10 min- lars. This is more than half of what we need to reach utes after we finished!) our $5 million dollar goal for the campaign! Holly Hollman led a CBF workshop, titled: “You’re I hope you were able to be a part of the rally, the in Washington. Be an Advocate!” that was attended by advocacy workshop, the CBF/ABC joint meeting, the Report from the Capital an overflow crowd. This insightful instruction on how RLC luncheon and the matching campaign. If you to more effectively advocate for the BJC and religious were not, you missed something special. July-August 2007 liberty was accompanied by numerous BJC-arranged We simply must seize the momentum of this meetings on Capitol Hill with members of Congress moment to press forward to greater heights. Won’t you and their staff. be an advocate for religious liberty in your community, At the joint CBF/ABC plenary session, the BJC was encourage and pray for the BJC in its ministry, provide honored and humbled to receive the first ever financial resources — for our annual budget, endow- American Baptist Religious Freedom Award, along ment, and the capital campaign — to allow us to gar- with a generous gift to advance our capital campaign to ner the resources we need to effectively defend and establish a Center for Religious Liberty. The nice things extend religious liberty for all? that American Baptists’ BJC board members — Aidsand If you do, the next 70 years will see the BJC soar to Wright-Riggins, Valoria Cheek and Sumner Grant — a level we now can only imagine. The stakes are too said about the BJC and a spontaneous ovation from the high, and the freedoms we enjoy too fragile, to do any- 5,500 Baptists gathered in the Washington Convention thing less. Center were truly heartwarming. 3 IN SEARCH OF BAPTISTS By Randall Balmer

An address presented at the Religious Liberty Council luncheon June 29, 2007, in Washington, D.C.

ear Sir,” the letter began. “Start looking for a The Baptist tradition in America, of course, can be traced to new job. The moral majority is going to put you Roger Williams, who arrived in the New World in 1621 to become and President Carter type of Christians out of a pastor of the Puritan congregation in Salem, Mass. Williams, job.” This letter, written in August 1980 by a man however, quickly ran afoul of the theocratic aspirations of the from Dallas, was addressed to Jimmy Carter’s Puritan divines, who sought the collusion of the church with the religious liaison, Robert Maddox, a Baptist. “Any state. Williams understood the dangers of this configuration and staunchD Christian would not support gays, would not support the argued against it. He sought to protect what he called the “gar- ERA which contradicts God’s plan for women and would support den of the church” from being contaminated by the “wilderness voluntary prayer in the school. You guys are real bummers. You of the world.” His strategy for doing so was the construction of don’t even deserve to be called Baptists.”1 what he called a “wall of separation” between the two. Even with the benefit of hindsight, it’s difficult to locate with The theocrats of Massachusetts were in no mood to listen to any precision exactly when so many Baptists in America ceased Williams’s objections. They expelled him from the colony, where- being Baptist. Some people, I suppose, would point to the storied upon he went to Rhode Island (which the Puritans regarded as a gathering in Houston in 1979, when busloads of Southern Baptist kind of cesspool of religious heresy) and founded there a colony “messengers” began electing a succession of denominational that enshrined Baptist principles of liberty of conscience and the presidents whose commitment to church-state separation was, separation of church and state. shall we say, tepid. The founders of this nation, in their wisdom — and due in Others might cite the changing views of Wallie Amos Criswell, part to the agitation of Isaac Backus and John Leland, both of longtime pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas. In 1960, during them Baptists — decided to encode William’s ideas into the First the heat of the presidential campaign, Criswell declared: “It is Amendment to the United States Constitution: “Congress shall written in our country’s constitution that church and state must make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibit- be, in this nation, forever separate and free.” Religious faith, the ing the free exercise thereof.” Although it is probably fair to say redoubtable fundamentalist declared, must be voluntary, and “in that Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were more concerned the very nature of the case, there can be no proper union of to protect the new nation from religious factionalism, it’s worth church and state.” Twenty-four years later, however, on August remembering that Roger Williams wanted to shield the integrity 24, 1984, during the Republican National Convention, Criswell of the faith from the meddling of the government. changed his tune: “I believe this notion of the separation of That is a quintessential Baptist idea. So too is liberty of con- church and state was the figment of some infidel’s imagination.”2 science and the protection of the rights of religious minorities. Still others might quote the head of the Ethics and Religious “Our sentiments are uniformly on the side of religious liberty,” Liberty Commission. “We’ll see who represents Baptist views,” the Baptists from Danbury, Conn., wrote to President Jefferson in he declared recently, taunting his ecclesiastical adversaries. “I 1801. “Religion is at all times and places a matter between God know I represent the views of overwhelming numbers of and individuals.” Although this letter, signed by Nehemiah Southern Baptists.” The appellation Baptist apparently belongs to Dodge, Ephram Robbins, and Stephen S. Nelson, is less widely whoever can rally the largest following. quoted than Jefferson’s famous “wall of separation” reply, it pro-

July-August 2007 Let’s review. It’s my understanding — admittedly from the vides a good summation of Baptist views. The Danbury Baptists perspective of an outsider — that a Baptist has two fundamental emphasized that “no man ought to suffer in name, person, or

Report from the Capital Report from convictions: a belief in adult (or believer’s) baptism and a convic- effects on account of his religious opinions.”3 tion about liberty of individual conscience and the separation of So much of the discussion surrounding the First Amendment church and state. These notions have a long and rich history, in recent years has focused on protecting public policy from reli- going back (arguably) to the New Testament and certainly to the gion. And it is a sentiment that has received a good bit of play era of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century, when recently in the hysterical fulminations of a passel of secular fun- 4 Anabaptists were persecuted for their beliefs. damentalists, notably Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens. Their putative concern about religion one-half-ton granite monument emblazoned with the Decalogue posing a threat to democratic institutions worries me not at all. into the lobby of the Judicial Building in Montgomery. Moore, Our form of government has proven itself remarkably durable who had run for office as the “Ten Commandments judge” and for more than two centuries now. And I believe that our unique who claims to be a Baptist, repeatedly refused the requests of form of representative democracy in a pluralistic setting actually other religious traditions to have their sacred texts represented benefits from the calisthenics of being stretched and pulled in in the Judicial Building. And he also refused to acknowledge various directions. Besides, whatever threats we face these days other precedents for American jurisprudence: the Code of emanate not from people of faith but from those who regard the Hammurabi, the Justinian Code, or the English Common Law Constitution as an impediment and civil liberties as a nuisance. tradition. He wanted only the Decalogue. My concern about the various attempts to compromise the My testimony in that case was that religion has flourished in First Amendment is quite the opposite. I worry that the integri- the United States as nowhere else precisely because the govern- ty of the faith is diminished by its entanglement with the state. ment has stayed out of the religion business. The First By taking such a position, I’m confident that I stand with Roger Amendment to the United States Constitution set up a free mar- Williams, the progenitor of the Baptist tradition in America, and ket for religion, and the happy effect is that we have in America a long line of Baptists stretching from Williams and Leland and a vibrant, salubrious religious marketplace unmatched any- Backus to George Washington Truett, James Dunn, and Brent where else in the world. The economic metaphor is especially Walker. apt: Adam Smith in his pivotal treatise on free markets, The Let’s revisit, for example, the issue of prayer in public Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, used religion to make his schools. First, it’s time, once and for all, to put much of the non- point about the value of free markets. The religious vitality we sense about school prayer behind us. The Supreme Court did see in the United States is due in large measure to the fact that, not outlaw prayer in public schools. That’s a canard, and it’s throughout our history, we have abided by the venerable Baptist high time we say so. As long as there are algebra tests, there’s principles of church-state separation and liberty of individual going to be prayer in schools. The issue is prescribed public conscience. prayer in public schools. In the early 1960s, the Court ruled, The lesson of Montgomery, Ala., is that when religion looks correctly, that such activity threatens the establishment clause of for sanction from the state, religion is diminished. Faith is the First Amendment — and, in so doing, it endangers the reduced to a fetish. Some of you may recall that after Judge integrity of the faith. Thompson ruled, properly, that “Roy’s Rock” violated the I attended a meeting a few years back where a representative Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, and workers of the religious right in this town actually proposed that the were preparing to remove it, one of the protesters screamed, way to maneuver around the Supreme Court was to have “Get your hands off my God!” schoolchildren recite a Hindu prayer on Monday, a Jewish Unless I’m mistaken, one of the Commandments etched into prayer on Tuesday, a Christian prayer on Wednesday, and so on. the side of that granite monument says something about graven No real Baptist would stand for such tomfoolery, for Baptists, images. following the lead of Roger Williams, recognize the perils to the Too many Baptists in America have lost their way. They faith of too close an association with the state. I, for one, have have been seduced by leaders of the religious right into thinking no interest in having my daughter or my sons recite a Shintõ that the way to advance the faith in this country is to surrender prayer at the beginning of each school day, much less a prayer Baptist principles and seek the imprimatur of the state. This written by Congress or by the state legislature or even by a local subversion takes many forms, ranging from the chimera of the school board. Baptists, of all people, understand that making so-called “school choice” movement and the attempt to pre- prayer rote and obligatory makes prayer into a mockery. scribe prayer in public schools to posting the Decalogue in pub- So too with the rage to post the Ten Commandments in pub- lic places and supporting the mischief of faith-based initiatives. lic places. Why the Decalogue, first of all? Why not the Sermon There is even a movement afoot among counterfeit Baptists on the Mount, for those who want to make the argument that like David Barton and Rick Scarborough to ignore the First the United States is a “Christian nation”? The Sermon on the Amendment and to deny that the founders ever intended Mount, after all, is the highest expression of Christian ethics, church and state to be separate. I’ve come to equate these peo-

although it does contain some of that unfortunate language ple with the Holocaust deniers and those who debunk global Report from the Capital about peacemakers and those who show mercy and turning the warming — not to suggest that there are moral parallels among other cheek and loving one’s enemies and storing treasures on these groups but merely because of the brazenness of their July-August 2007 earth. It also talks about the dangers of praying in public, after denials in the face of overwhelming and irrefutable evidence to the manner of the hypocrites. Perhaps that’s why we prefer the the contrary. retributive justice of the Ten Commandments over the ethic of On the face of it, it’s not difficult to understand why even love outlined in the Sermon on the Mount. Still, the soaring Baptists would be tempted to compromise Baptist principles. aspirations of the Sermon on the Mount surely would comport With the election of a Roman Catholic to the presidency in 1960, better with the American temperament than the prohibitions of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the changes to immi- the Ten Commandments. gration laws the following year, and the rise of the countercul- But why not post the Decalogue in public places? Because, ture in the late 1960s, Baptists and others discerned that quite simply, it trivializes the faith and makes the Ten America was changing. Specifically, they recognized the eclipse Commandments into a fetish. I was one of the expert witnesses of the religious hegemony that Christians, especially Protestant in the Alabama Ten Commandments case, where Roy S. Moore, Christians, once enjoyed. The free marketplace of religion had chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, plopped a two-and- (Continued on page 6) 5 always worked to their advantage, in part because Baptists and zation to which they do not believe.” pother evangelicals know better than almost anyone else how to com- Most important, I ask that Baptists reclaim their heritage as watch- pete in the arena of popular discourse. But the arrival of others into men on the wall of separation between church and state. That entails this gorgeously diverse and pluralistic nation meant that Baptists and a stern and unstinting rebuke of those supposed Baptists who seek to Protestants and Christians no longer had the field to themselves. undermine the First Amendment, the best friend that religion has Rather than rely on the time-honored principles of the religious free ever had. They are not real Baptists, for no true Baptist would stand market and rather than compete on a more-or-less equal footing, they for the compromise of such a foundational Baptist principle. sought to change the rules to their advantage. And let’s remember the perils of lusting after political influence. And when Jimmy Carter, a true Baptist, refused to play along with Religion always functions best from the margins of society and not in their ruinous scheme, many Baptists elected to abandon Baptist prin- the councils of power. That is the great lesson of American history — ciples in favor of policies that would, ostensibly, advance the cause of and, arguably, all of church history. Once religion hankers after tem- the faith. But as Roger Williams understood centuries ago, collusion poral influence, the faith loses its prophetic edge. The proper place with the state is a Faustian bargain. In this case, a succession of for all believers, Baptist or otherwise, is on the margins, calling the Republican politicians, from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush, powerful to account, all the while refusing the seductions of power. exploited religious voters in the interest of their own political ambi- Let me be clear about what I am not saying. I am not arguing that tions. The identification of the religious right with the Republican people of faith should not participate in the political process. Not at Party has deprived the faith of its prophetic voice. Where are the all. I happen to believe that the arena of public discourse would be Baptist voices of conscience decrying this administration’s immoral impoverished without voices of faith. war in Iraq, the relentless assault on civil liberties, and the abomina- But let those voices be clear and uncompromised by unsavory tion of torture? political entanglements, unburdened by the empty promises of reli- In too many cases, the answer is that those voices have been co- gious favoritism, and free from the ritualistic piety of patriotism. The opted by the promise — very often the mirage — of access to political marketplace of religion in America, encoded into the First power. They have traded the foundational Baptist principles of Amendment, is a Baptist idea, and it is one that has worked remark- church-state separation and liberty of individual conscience for the ably well for more than two centuries now. But the underlying prem- illusion of political influence. The religious right has ransacked the ise is that no religion, no creed, no faith enjoys a preferential legal sta- faith in exchange for a conference call with Karl Rove. tus. Everyone in America enjoys liberty of conscience to believe — or And what have they to show in return? Precious little. The so- not to believe — as she sees fit. Every true Baptist understands that. called Baptists in the ranks of the religious right have sold their Every true Baptist recognizes that my right in a pluralistic context to birthright for a mess of pottage. If I were a Baptist, I’d be tempted to believe and worship as I see fit presupposes my willingness to let oth- sue for trademark infringement! ers do likewise. And too many Baptists have stood by as putative Baptists like Roy Finally, every true Baptist understands that any attempt to “bap- Moore perpetrated various stunts aimed at compromising the genius tize” the faith with the imprimatur of the state — whether it's the Ten of the First Amendment. I want to know why every Baptist in Commandments or faith-based initiatives or public prayer in public Alabama didn’t storm the Judicial Building in Montgomery and schools — ultimately diminishes the integrity of the faith. Roger demand, in the name of Baptist principles, that “Roy’s Rock” be Williams warned us about that nearly four centuries ago. Those removed immediately as an affront to the integrity of the faith — warnings were prescient then. Today, they’re urgent. which, as Roger Williams taught us long ago, suffers when it is con- fused with the state. What Roy Moore was peddling was idolatry, 1 Letter (handwritten), Terry Miller [Dallas, Texas] to Bob Maddox, August 22, 1980, pure and simple — a conflation of the gospel with the American “Office of Public Liaison, Bob Maddox, Religious Liaison,” Box 3, Jimmy Carter Library. political order. I confess that I’m not up-to-date on current Baptist thinking about 2 W. A. Criswell, “Religious Freedom and the Presidency,” United Evangelical Action perdition, but I have to believe there is a somewhat warmer place 19 (September 1960), 9-10: quoted in Richard V. Pierard, “Religion and the 1984 Election awaiting the Baptist leaders in Alabama who stood by idly in the face Campaign,” Review of Religious Research 27 (December 1985), 104-105. of this nonsense. Not Gehenna, perhaps, but somewhere a tad 3 Quoted in The Separation of Church and State: Writings on a Fundamental Freedom warmer than the norm. I was thinking more along the lines of by America’s Founders, ed. Forrest Church (Boston: Beacon Press, 2004), 127. Houston— or Washington. My time is drawing to a close and, this being a gathering of Baptists, I must segue into the altar call. I’m asking Baptists to reaf- firm their heritage. I’m asking them to rededicate themselves to the importance of liberty of conscience. Baptists were once a minority themselves, so they should know better than most the importance of protecting the rights of minorities, religious or otherwise. “Our con- July-August 2007 tention is not for mere toleration, but for absolute liberty,” George Dr. Randall Balmer is professor of American Washington Truett declared from the steps of the Capitol on May 16, Religion at Barnard College, Columbia University, Report from the Capital Report from 1920. “There is a wide difference between toleration and liberty ... It a visiting professor at Yale Divinity School and the is the consistent and insistent contention of our Baptist people, always author of Thy Kingdom Come: An Evangelical’s and everywhere, that religion must be forever voluntary and unco- Lament (Basic Books). erced, and that it is not the prerogative of any power, whether civil or ecclesiastical, to compel men to conform to any religious creed or 6 form of worship, or to pay taxes for the support of a religious organi- GUEST VIEW

Doug Marlette 1949 — 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist ‘got it’ James M. Dunn “We Baptists Gotta Stick Together — After All Nobody tives around the culture Christianity he knew. He President Else Will Have Us!” Saith Will B. Dunn. shared a churchy spirituality, a principled piety that is BJC Endowment Those are the words Doug rooted in being a real Baptist. Marlette put in Will’s mouth. In After all, nobody else will have 1990 the embattled Baptist Joint us. Committee asked Doug to We are an odd breed, a allow the Rev. Will B. Dunn to churchly crowd without a give the late great Southern creed. “Jesus is Lord” is our Baptist Convention some holy motto. We want that same advice. That’s what Doug came freedom for everyone else. We up with, quite on his own. We, can handle pluralism head on, the BJC, put it on a button, as did Doug, because we our- wore it and handed it out at the selves are pluralists. Doug por- convention. The original trayed that so fairly but brutal- sketch, blue lines and all, ly that some people just could- remains framed on the wall of n’t take it. the BJC offices in Washington. Krista Tippett suggests that Doug revealed that he many modern media mavens understood the Baptist tap think religion is all belief. root. Nobody else will have us That’s why they fail to under- because when we are true to stand. Religion is actually ourselves we are essentially about the drama of life, how dissenters. Nobody else will have us because we will we get along, the ways not have them. It’s not that we are nasty lone wolves. of doing day to day. We can be really ecumenical when it comes to working Doug knew that. So all together and caring for others and following Jesus. But the efforts to catalog we are not going to fit into anyone’s establishment. beliefs and engage in We are not going to mouth a creed. “There is one the labeling of religions mediator between God and humankind, the one, is a futile exercise. Christ Jesus.” Doug “got it.” We come to God directly, Doug had fun with it. personally. Without formula or filter. We come freely Doug Marlette saw or not really. Soul freedom matters; so do the Baptist the failures, the contra- churches that help us stick together. dictions, the gaps, and

The authentic Baptist way suited Doug just fine. It the roughness of his Report from the Capital was the folk faith of his upbringing. It fit his independ- region’s religiosity. He Marlette, shown here in 1996, presents Dunn ent spirit, his artistic temperament. It sustained his knew the experienced with a cartoon he drew to commemorate Dunn’s July-August 2007 passionately held freedom of conscience. It was the beauty and power of 15 years as BJC Executive Director. best of what he had gleaned from his southern reli- “baptistified” gion. Christianity as Martin Marty tagged it (Christianity The Rev. Will B. Dunn came boldly to the comic Today, 1983). He accepted the notion that a god who page, full of foibles and fumbles, fully human but with could be defined is God denied. Tough stuff! So a heavenly message. The editorial cartoons parsed Doug’s faith, like kudzu, that damn vine, is ubiquitous. political reality, punctured pretense, jabbed hypocrisy Dang, Doug, we miss you already. and reduced phoniness to ridicule. Bypass Baptist Church, served by Rev. Dunn, is spookily familiar. The weddings and funerals seem James M. Dunn is the president of the Baptist Joint Committee like live reports, not figments of fantasy. One suspects Endowment and a professor of Christianity and Public Policy that with great good humor, Doug was exposing at Wake Forest Divinity School in Winston-Salem, N.C. The Baptists, as we are, warts and all. cartoon shown in the center was a gift from Marlette to Dunn Doug understood that there is a cluster of distinc- upon Dunn’s retirement as BJC executive director in 1999. 7 Baptists Unite: BJC holds religious freedom rally at Capitol

Participants read excerpts of Truett sermon, cast vision for

ensuring freedom for all More than 200 attended the BJC’s June 29 Baptist Unity Rally fo

WASHINGTON — Eighty-seven years after George W. “allows discrimination with federal funds.” He urged Truett thundered a call for separation of church and state Baptists committed to full religious liberty to “continue to to more than 10,000 Southern Baptists gathered in the make your voices heard.” nation’s capital, a smaller but more diverse group of Alliance of Baptists leader Stan Hastey referenced the Baptists paid tribute to the legendary pastor’s message and “sunny May day” in 1920 when Truett, influenced by John called for a renewed commitment to full religious liberty. Bunyan’s Pilgrim Progress and Baptist newspapers that Sponsored by the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious came to his North Carolina home, gave his famed address. Liberty, the speeches took place near the Capitol building, “By every account, it was a remarkable occasion,” said where Truett, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, gave Hastey, whose introduction was followed by nine Baptist his May 16, 1920, address. leaders reading excerpts from Truett’s lengthy and influen- While George Washington laid the physical cornerstone tial sermon. of the Capitol in 1793, “its true foundation is on the first The readers included Amy Butler of Washington’s freedom — freedom of religion,” Congressman Chet Calvary Baptist Church; Steven Case of First Baptist Edwards (D-Texas) said at the June 29 event. Church of Mansfield, Penn.; Quinton Dixie of Indiana Edwards said former Baylor University president and University-Purdue University; Pamela Durso of the Baptist later chancellor Herbert H. Reynolds, gave him a copy of History and Heritage Society; Jeffrey Haggray of the D.C. Truett’s sermon several years ago. The sermon “made an Baptist Convention; Robert Marus of Associated Baptist indelible imprint” on him and caused the defense of reli- Press; Julie Pennington-Russell of First Baptist Church of gious liberty to become his “political calling in life.” Decatur, Ga.; Bill Underwood of Mercer University; and “Our religious freedom must be protected by each gen- Daniel Vestal of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. eration,” Edwards said. “There are politicians in each gen- “Toleration is a concession, while liberty is a right,” eration, in the name of religion, who would do it great Vestal read from Truett’s sermon. “… God wants free wor- harm.” shippers or no other kind.” Haggray echoed Truett’s affir- Edwards and Congressman Bobby Scott, D-Va., mation that religious liberty “was preeminently a Baptist July-August 2007 addressed the crowd, composed mostly of those attending achievement.”

Report from the Capital Report from meetings of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Large sections of Truett’s address, not read at the Baptist American Baptist Churches USA. BJC Executive Director Unity Rally for Religious Liberty, dealt with Baptist doc- Brent Walker introduced Edwards and Scott as leading trines and even challenged Roman Catholic theology and members of Congress committed to preserving religious practice. Yet Truett concluded that “a Baptist would rise at liberty. midnight to plead for absolute religious liberty for his Scott spoke of current church-state challenges like Catholic neighbor and for his Jewish neighbor and every- 8 President Bush’s faith-based initiatives program that body else.” (Continued on page 9) or Religious Liberty in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol. Kathleen Armstrong photo

Participants of the Rally includ- ed, Curt Lucas, national coordi- nator for public policy and social advocacy for American Baptist Churches USA (top); the Rev. Jeffrey Haggray, executive director/minister of the D.C. Baptist Convention (above); Rep. Chet Edwards of Texas (far left); the Rev. Julie Pennington-Russell, pastor, First Baptist Church, Decatur, Ga. (left) and Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia (below). Photos by Rod Reilly Report from the Capital July-August 2007 At the rally’s conclusion, BJC general counsel Holly Hollman said the religious liberty enjoyed by Americans today is worth the efforts of Truett and others before and since. “Religious liberty is our right, and its protection our responsi- bility,” Hollman said. — ABP 9 HollmanREPORT Hill visits offer opportunity for advocacy and dialogue K. Hollyn Hollman During the recent Baptist gatherings in feeling of ownership in their representation. The General Counsel Washington, several friends of the BJC took time offices are there to serve you and that includes to exercise their rights of citizenship in the most listening to your perspective on issues of federal direct and often overlooked way: they visited the public policy. When you engage your elected offices of their elected representatives. They official, you have the opportunity to make a dif- introduced themselves or got reconnected with ference and experience one of the benefits of liv- past acquaintances, thanked them for their serv- ing in a democracy. ice, talked about the reason Second, because it is effective. A successful “The next time you are in they were in town, vouched for visit with your elected official takes preparation. the work of the BJC, and However, as some first-time advocates learned in Washington, consider visit- encouraged their representa- June, it is not difficult when the meeting is well- ing your members of tives to defend religious liberty. planned and the agenda is specific. During the Congress and engaging It is easy in this day of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s General them on current religious Internet petitions and multimil- Assembly, I led a workshop, aided by several liberty issues.” lion dollar political campaigns BJC board members, designed to prepare those to overlook the opportunity, or who would have meetings on the Hill. In short, a discount the value, of personal good meeting includes elements of careful contact with an elected repre- preparation, concise presentation, appropriate sentative. Yet most members of praise and post-meeting contact. While each visit Congress pride themselves on constituent serv- differs depending on the attendees and the speci- ice. They rarely turn down the opportunity to ficity of the issues discussed, a constituent’s meet with someone from their home district or voiced concern for protecting religious freedom state. As a quick tour of congressional Web sites and the separation of church and state can have demonstrates, members of Congress serve you an impact on how a member addresses the issue and take pride in offering a variety of services, and eventually how they vote. from Capitol tours and sales of flags flown over Third, because it is rewarding. Those who the Capitol to information about federal grants. met with members or their staffs reported the Moreover, many explicitly state that they and experience as a positive personal experience, as their staff always welcome the opportunity to well as being an avenue to advance religious meet constituents. freedom at the policy level. Some made connec- Through the years, BJC staff has worked with tions and began conversations that no doubt will members of Congress and their staffs to evaluate continue when they want to influence their and influence legislation on various matters that member on a particular issue in the future. affect religious liberty. We try to be a substantive As the BJC looks toward the future and its resource for staff, as well as a prophetic voice for plans to expand our capacity, we hope more of those we serve. Our work is greatly enhanced our friends and supporters will make it a habit July-August 2007 when members hear directly from their con- to come see us and plan to meet with their elect-

Report from the Capital Report from stituents. The next time you are in Washington, ed representatives in Congress, too. If we can consider visiting your members of Congress and help you, let us know. In the meantime, we will engaging them on current religious liberty continue to be your eyes, ears and voice for reli- issues. Here are three good reasons. gious liberty in the nation’s capital. Thank you First, because you will be welcomed. On for your support of our work! Capitol Hill, all members of the House of Representatives and Senate have an office with a staff assigned to various policy areas where they 1 regularly meet with constituents and interest groups. Most of the offices create a specific state- inspired environment, decorated with state flags, 0 photos and memorabilia, giving constituents a During overlapping meetings, Baptist NEWS leaders speak candidly about cooperation

WASHINGTON— Sitting on stools on a conven- moment,” he said. “American Baptists, Cooperative tion center stage, the Revs. Roy Medley, Tyrone Pitts Baptists, Progressive Baptists coming together. ... It and Daniel Vestal recalled how they came to know gladdens our hearts.” each other as they worked together in the wake of The American Baptists and the Southern Baptist Hurricane Katrina. Convention split more than 100 years ago over lin- Their almost casual chat took the place of a more gering racial tensions, while the CBF split in the formal sermon as sev- 1990s after the eral Baptist groups Southern Baptists took that usually meet sepa- a more conservative rately — and express turn. The Washington- theology differently — based Progressive held a recent joint wor- National Baptist ship service here. Convention, which “What you see on Pitts serves as general this stage tonight is secretary, was born in three brothers in the civil rights move- Christ,” said Vestal, ment at a time when head of the Atlanta- racial issues divided based Cooperative many churches and Baptist Fellowship to a even the movement combined congrega- itself. tion of 5,500 worship- Pitts said Katrina pers. “We’ve gotten to brought Baptists know each other and CBF coordinator Daniel Vestal speaks during a panel discussion with together to form a ABC USA general secretary Roy Medley, left, and Tyrone Pitts, general love each other and we secretary of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, during the network that has fos- found that we have a combined CBF/ABC USA worship service June 29. tered rebuilding whole lot more in com- Rod Reilly photo churches and commu- mon than we have that nities. divides us.” “With that joint Baptists from a range of fellowships and denomi- effort, we were able to do more together than we nations came together for worship, rallies and to say would have ever been able to do separately,” he Report from the Capital — at least symbolically — that splits and divisions said.

from the past will not prevent them from joining During the joint worship service, Cooperative and July-August 2007 hands on issues like missions and religious freedom. American Baptists announced a partnership to send They often disagree with more conservative missionary couples to Thailand and Haiti. At a news Southern Baptists, but they want people to know conference, Baptist leaders said the groups would they are Baptist, too — just a different kind. work together to start churches. And Medley said “They want to be able to define Baptists to them- the CBF, American Baptists and the Alliance of selves and in the public square since it often appears Baptists (a smaller moderate group) will co-sponsor that Southern Baptists are defining everyone,” said a forum between Baptists and Muslims “so that we the Rev. Bill Leonard, dean of the Wake Forest can begin to agree to work more towards issues of University Divinity School in Winston-Salem, N.C. understanding and peace together.” Now, Baptists who agree on issues like reducing Baptist leaders also affirmed their plans for a larg- poverty and hunger and respecting religious diversi- er gathering planned for next January in Atlanta. ty are seeking ways to actively find common With the encouragement of former Presidents Jimmy ground. Carter and Bill Clinton, both Baptists, there will be a Medley, general secretary of the Valley Forge, Pa.- “Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant.” based American Baptist Churches USA, said the Predominantly white and historically African- 1 joint worship — which bridged the end of the CBF American Baptist groups will emphasize their com- meeting and the start of his denomination’s biennial mitment to feeding the hungry, promoting peace, gathering— is the kind of thing that “makes God and caring for the sick and marginalized. happy.” — RNS “This is, in and of itself, an awesome God 1